On Monday, the Trump administration announced that it would not be
extending its waiver of the Jones Act for Puerto Rico, despite urgings
from lawmakers and critics who have insisted that the lifting of the rule
is crucial for the islands recovery from Hurricane Maria.

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However, administration officials nevertheless insisted that the
restrictive rules regarding shipping between American ports were not to
blame for the trouble distributing emergency supplies to Puerto Ricans
suffering in the storms aftermath.

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The limitation [in delivering emergency supplies to Puerto Rico] is going
to be port capacity to offload and transit, not vessel availability, a
Customs and Border agency spokesman said at the time. And, in fact,
damaged roads, gasoline shortages, and staffing issues did present a
significant challenge for emergency ration distribution once ships managed
to reach Puerto Ricos ports.

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Now that that waiver has expired, the flow of goods into Puerto Rico will
once again be limited by the act, creating a supply bottleneck that has
historically driven up prices for basic goods on the island. (A 2010 study
conducted by the University of Puerto Rico calculated that Puerto Rico
lost approximately half a billion dollars annually as a result of the
Jones Act.)

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This comes as Puerto Rico continues to struggle to regain basic
necessities like clean drinking water and electricity and tries to look
ahead toward the long and difficult task of rebuilding.